
The Safety Patrol
<p><em>The Safety Patrol</em> considers the potential of seven children as future caretakers of the world. The boy in the center stands in front of his classmates, wearing a sash that signals his role helping other children safely cross the street. His outstretched arms reinforce his duty to lead and protect and his facial expression registers that he is poised and not afraid of what lies ahead. As the artist has noted, the letters <em>OK</em> printed diagonally on his shirt and the yellow eye on his left side simultaneously ward off evil forces and forecast that the children are prepared for the future and will be alright.</p>
Catalogue
- Year
- 2018
- Dimensions
- 210.8 × 229 cm (83 × 90 in.)
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Artist
- Bisa Butler
Artist

Installation
Bisa Butler is an African American fiber artist who is credited with creating a new genre of quilting, using photographs, sketches, and vivid traditional textiles to create vibrant life-size portraits in fabric. She is known for celebrating Black life and identity, portraying both everyday people and notable historical figures. Although quilting has long been considered a craft, Butler's use of interdisciplinary methods to create elaborate quilts that look like paintings is bringing recognition both to her work and to the medium of quilting as a whole, as a fine art form.
Full artist profile →Record
Verified by WattsOS- Artist
- Bisa Butler
- Year
- 2018
- Dimensions
- 210.8 × 229 cm (83 × 90 in.)
- Watts ID
- WW-2018-013664
Source
- Collection
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Source
- aic
- Reference
- View at source
- Status
- verified